MIROS

IN DEPTH CRASH INVESTIGATION–

CONCEPT, METHOD & PROCEDURE
ENGR AHMAD NOOR SYUKRI Z.ABIDIN

HEAD
CRASH RECONSTRUCTION UNIT
VEHICLE SAFETY & BIOMECHANICS RESEARCH CENTRE
MAL AYSIAN INSTITU TE OF ROAD SAFET Y RESEARCH

1
ROAD CRASH: ELEMENTS

System

Vehicles Road
Human
IN DEPTH CRASH INVESTIGATION: OBJECTIVE

 The primary purpose of research based, in-depth crash

investigation is to identify in detail as many factors as possible
that contribute to crashes and the resulting injuries, in
particular, factors that have not previously been identified.
 The results of these investigations are reported to the federal
government, road authorities, the automotive industry and
other stakeholders.
 Ultimately, this process can be expected to lead to the
development of countermeasures that will prevent the same
crash from happening again.

Source: CASR, 2007

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 3

OVERALL PICTURE

Real world In
Depth Crash
Investigation

Report Finding –
Propose
Intervention
Recommendation
& Intervention

4
RESEARCH-BASED CRASH INVESTIGATION

Base

Levels of Research
Based Crash Intermediate
Investigation

In Depth

5
 DIFFERENT LEVELS IN
RESEARCH BASED CRASH INVESTIGATION

Level Base Level Intermediate Level In Depth Level

Data  Traffic police accident  Traffic police  Traffic police accident reports
Source reports accident reports  Observation at sites
 National road  Observation at sites  Technical inspection of vehicle
transport statistics  Additional evidence damages
from police officers  Clinical assessment of injuries
or witnesses  Additional evidence from police
 Judicial reports officers or witnesses
 Interviews with occupants
involved
Functions  To access crash  To identify and  To assess crash causes
situations (who, diagnose  To assess injury causation
where, when, what hazardous road mechanisms
circumstances) locations (where,  To study crash and injury
 To examine trends in how, what) prevention measures
traffic volume, risk,  To reconstruct  To reconstruct accidents to
make forecasts accidents to determine useful
 To evaluate effects of determine useful countermeasures/
legislation and other countermeasures  recommendations
countermeasures  To monitor the effectiveness of
MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 6
specific legislation and non
legislative measures
 EXAMPLES OF
CRASH INVESTIGATION IN THE EU

Base Level

CARE (Community database of IRTAD (International Road

Accidents resulting in death or
injury on the Road in Europe)
1993
• Source of funding: EU/National
governments
• Number of cases per year: N/A
• Geographical Area: All EU member states
Traffic and Accident Database)
1970
• Source of funding: OECD Road Transport
Research Programme
• Number of cases per year: 350
• Geographical Area: 28 OECD countries

EHLASS (European Home and

Leisure Accident Surveillance
System) 1995
• Source of funding: National governments
with additional EC funding
• Number of cases per year: N/A
• Geographical Area: Several EU countries

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 7

 EXAMPLES OF
CRASH INVESTIGATION IN THE EU
Intermediate Level
GDV (Institute for Vehicle
Safety, Germany) 1969
• Source of funding: German Insurance
Association
• Number of cases per year: over 1000
• Geographical Area: Germany
TUG (Technical University of
Graz, Austria) 1995
• Source of funding: Legal expert witness
cases with accident reconstruction
• Number of cases per year: 150
• Geographical Area: Austria
MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH
SARAC (Safety Rating Advisory
Committee)
• Source of funding: European
Commission, insurance companies, car
manufacturers
• Number of cases per year: N/A
• Geographical Area: Countries involve in
the project (Japan, Australia, USA etc)
VALT (Finland) 1972
• Source of funding: Finnish insurance
companies and government
• Number of cases per year: 450
• Geographical Area: Finland
8
 EXAMPLES OF
CRASH INVESTIGATION IN THE EU
In Depth Level
GIDAS (German In Depth
Accident Study, Germany) 1999
• Source of funding: German government
(Hannover), German car industry
(Dresden)
• Number of cases per year: 2000
• Geographical Area: Hannover &
Dresden
MAIDS (Motorcycle In depth
Accident Study) 1998
• Source of funding: ACEM (Motorcycle
industry in Europe
• Number of cases per year: 500
• Geographical Area: Netherlands , Spain,
Germany, Italy, France
MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH
OTS (On The Spot Study, UK)
2000
• Source of funding: UK Department of
Transport
• Number of cases per year: 500
• Geographical Area: UK
EACS (European Accident
Causation Study) 1997
• Source of funding: Car industry through
ACEA with EU support
• Number of cases per year: 450
• Geographical Area: Several European
countries
9
CRASH RECONSTRUCTION UNIT

Director
General

Road User Vehicle Safety Road Safety Publications and

Administration
Behavioral and Engineering and Knowledge
and Finances
Change Biomechanics Environment Management
Division
Research Centre Research Centre Research Centre Division

Crash
Reconstruction
Unit

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 10

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY
RESEARCH ACT 2012 (ACT 748)

1. ACC E S S A N D D I S C LO S U R E O F DATA
2 . E XA M I N AT I ON O F PH YS I C A L E N T IT IE S
3. COLLECTION OF SAMPLE
4 . R E PR E S E N TAT I O N I N C I V I L PRO C E E D I N G
5 . R E T E N T I O N O F DATA

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 11

 MIROS CRASH INVESTIGATION

 Cases Attended : More than 800 cases

 Geographical Area: Malaysia
 Fund: Ministry of Transport
 Strength:
• 6 Mechanical Engineers,
• 1 Biomechanical Engineer,
• 1 Forensic Scientist
• 1 Material Engineer Number of Investigated Crashes by Year
• 5 Support Staffs 200
170
186
180
• 3 Drivers 160 142
140 126
120 106
98 94
100
80 64
60
40
20
0
MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 12
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
 Total Numbers of Casualties
INVESTIGATED CASES 350
300
284
300
248
250
195 195 197

Numbers
200 157 164 171
156 142
150 133
104
102 110 114 97
80 91
100 75
57 57
30 38
50
Number of Investigated Cases 0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

170 Year
130
106 Fatal Severe Slight
98 94
82
64 68 74
0 0 0 0 44 56 0

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Operation Project Based

Proportion of Vehicles Involved

100
2.9 6.3 7.0 2.7
14.8 6.8
80 8.0 9.8 27.8
13.6 13.4
16.6
Percentage

20.6 20.8
60 31.9 18.5
9.3 22.0 11.0
21.6 25.8
40 16.7 21.3 24.4
54.1
20 36.4 43.7 42.4
35.3 31.5 27.8 26.3
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Year

M A L A YCar
S I A N I N S T I Trailer/Lorry
TUTE OF RO BusA D S A F E T4WD
Y R E S E A R CVan
H 13
Motorcycle MPV/SUV Road Furniture Pedestrian
INVESTIGATION CRITERIA

National Inquiry
Non Inquiry Special Interest Project Based
by Ministry
• Cases which come • Cases which • Cases involving • Crashes involving
to the interest of involve 3 fatalities special interest motorcycles
ministry & above (ambulance, fire, • Road crashes
• Usually involve • Cases with 1 fatality government during festive
high number of involving vehicles) season (focused
fatalities commercial enforcement)
• Report to minister vehicles • Crashes involving
for cabinet decision • Focus issues passenger cars
for potential new related to MIROS (hospital based
policies/regulations current & future localized
research investigation)

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 14

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

Crash Notification Team Preparation

Analysis & Report Site & Vehicle Data

Writing Collection
 NOTIFICATION

• Nationwide Catchment Area

• Based from Media Portal, Special Request
etc.
NOTIFICATION PROCESS FLOW

Clearance from Obtain Documentation

Case selection respective Preliminary Preparation and
Police Station Information Open Case
PREPARATION

Logistics
PPE

Tool And Equipment

Man power

Normally 2 Safety Vest Measurement 3 vehicles

personnel and 1 Safety Shoes Tools equipped with
driver safety beacons
Proper Attire Photography
Rotational Basis
Equipment
Inquiry case
may involve UAV (Drones)
more
 Equipment And Tools
Measurement

Photography
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

 Accessibility
 Traffic, ravine
 Top view
 Thorough surveillance &
analysis
DATA COLLECTION

Primary Secondary
Road Profiles
Reports from
• Road Design and
relevant
Environment
agencies/
• Road Geometry
authorities
• Road Site Evidence

Vehicle Details
• Damage Profiles
• Restraint Wearing
Evidence
• Internal Contacts

Occupant
• Internal collision
• Injury mechanism
 Data Collection Forms

6 investigation forms – Developed

in reference to Birmingham,
Adelaide & GIDAS

Crash Investigation and Reconstruction Database (CIRD) –

approx. 1000 fields
RECAP….

 What are the 4 processes in Crash Investigations

SOP?
 Primary data is divided into 3 elements which
are?
 Name 4 equipment used in crash investigations?

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 23

Vehicle Damage
 Photography

8 angles of view of a vehicle

VIN and chassis number
BDM, BTM and BG
Company information
Tires
Car front hood’s interior
Seatbelt
Deployed airbag
Helmet (motorcycle)
8-point-view photographs

Note: Checklist of items could be more depending on the interest of each particular case i.e bus’s roof
pillar, trailer’s under run bar etc

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 25

 Story Telling Photos

Very Far-Ranged View

Extreme Close-up View Far-Ranged View

Close-up View Medium-Ranged View

Crucial Vehicle Structure

Beam connecting longitudinal = transverse beam

Damage Profiles

Crush Energy Calculation

Crush Measurement (C1 – C6)

Direct damage only

Delta-V
Collision Deformation Classification
(CDC)

is a 7 digit alpha numeric code used to classify any and

all crash impact damage in a systematic fashion. It was
created and is maintained by the Society of Automotive
Engineers SAE and is used globally by all in the
automotive safety industry.
 CDC Coding

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Direction of impact

General location of damage

Specific horizontal area

Specific vertical area

Damage pattern

Damage extent

As experienced by the vehicle

Split into 12 equal 30o sections
Coded as a clock face
Vehicle Details

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 32

Vehicle Details

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 33

Restraint Wearing
Road (Design And Environment)
Road (Geometry)
Aerial View (UAV)
 Physical Evidences

Skid marks
Skidmark Yaw marks Rut marks

Tire Imprint

Debris - POI
 Characteristics of Tire Marks

SKIDMARK YAWMARK ACCELERATION FLAT TIRE MARK IMPRINT

STUFF
WHEEL MOTION Slide, little or no Rolling and sideslip Powered wheels Rolling, no slip Rolling, no slip
roll spin and slip
OPERATION Braking Steering Speeding up Rolling None
NUMBER FROM Mostly 2 or 4, 1 to 4, usually 2 or 3 Usually 1 Only 1 rarely 2 1 to 4
4-TIERED VEH also 1 or 3 sometimes 2
RIGHT AND LEFT Equally strong 1 or 2 stronger Equal if two Usually 1, Any number
TIRES Rarely two
FRONT AND Front stronger Dependent on weight Only powered Either Equally clear
REAR TIRES distribution & transfer wheels
WIDTH If straight, same as Varies from an inch to If straight same as Tire tread edge and Same as tire
tire a foot tire lighter side wall
marks
BEGINNING Faint Always faint Abrupt if from Faint Strong
stop
END Usually abrupt Strong if at rest Very gradual No characteristic No characteristic
end end
STRIATIONS Parallel with mark Always oblique or Parallel to mark on None None
if straight crosswise a straight mark
OTHER DETAILS Outer edges maybe Curved Outer edges maybe Outer edges Tread design
stronger May cross each other stronger stronger usually is apparent
in a spin Maybe intermittent

LENGTH (usually) 1 to 500 feet 10 to 200 feet 0.5 to 50 feet 50 feet to 10 miles Any length

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 39

RECAP….

 Name 1 of the different characteristics between

skid marks and yaw marks?
 How many columns are there in CDC Coding?
 What is the degree of interval between the 12
sections in PDoF?

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 40

RECAP….

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 41

DATA ANALYSIS

 Collision Reconstruction and Kinematic Analysis

 Speed Analysis
 Occupant Injury Mechanism
 Material Analysis
On-site Investigation

 Obtaining important and reliable information on road crash

 Correctly interpret physical evidence :

Guide direction for further

Approve/ disapprove theory of crash
investigation

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 43

Impacts
Matching of Vehicle Damages & Site Evidences
 Collision Reconstruction & Kinematics Analysis

 Scientific process - Analyzing and rebuilding

 Physics law and engineering principal - conservation of linear
momentum and energy
 Kinematic of impacts - action of force in producing/ changing
motion of masses.
 Qualitative dynamics - how vehicle impacted and came to rest

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 46

Kinematics Analysis

Animation

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 47

Speed Analysis

 Estimated speed - based on information gathered during

on-site and vehicle inspection.
 Physics law and engineering principal is applied
 Important to answer:
 Violation of speed limit
 Driver trip management
 Determining impact speed:
 Risk of injury severity
 Probability of fatality

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 48

Delta-v
Law of conservation of momentum states that the sum of ‘velocity times mass’
terms remain constant i.e. before and after impact.
m1v1 + m2v2 = m1vf + m2vf
Rearranging to get;

 Vehicle 1 delta-V = Vf-V1

 Vehicle 2 delta-V = Vf-V2

Is the difference between a vehicle’s immediate pre-impact and post-impact

velocities.

Total
Delta V2
Delta-V = vf-vi Lateral
Delta V2

Longitudinal Delta V2

Delta-V is a vector, a quantity with both magnitude and direction.

All vehicles are assumed to reach a common post-impact velocity with their
collision partner(s).
Impact Speeds & Energy
Speed Calculation

Utilizing kinematics equations:

 v1= v0 + a t (Eq. 1)
 v1 = v02 + 2 a s (Eq. 2)

In which a = f g,
v1 is the final velocity, v0 is the initial velocity,
a is the acceleration, s is the distance travelled
f is the drag factor g is gravity acceleration.
t is the duration of velocity changes from v0 to v1,

Minimum Travelling Speed = Speed that a vehicle had to travel, at the

very least, to leave that type of brake marks.
Calculation Method

Based on vehicle damage Based on length of brake

intrusion marks (kinematics
Crush energy – Delta V approach)
 Other factors to be
considered

S= 15.9√([f+e)(R)]
where f is drag factor
and e is super elevation
Minimum Speed to Rollover

 When centrifugal force (wv^2/(gR) tan θ)

> potential energy (mg), the bus will
start to roll.
 The bus tipped on its side when kinetic
Δh energy (KE = ½ mv2) > potential energy
(PE = mgΔh).
 Assumptions:
 Radius of the curve, R
 Angle between height of CG and
horizontal position of CG, θ =
Animation
 Thus, the maximum speed for the bus
to negotiate the curve without rollover is
88.29 km/h.
Angle (°) Estimated Speed (km/h)
6 165.71371
11° 7 142.1341821
8 124.4622655
9 110.7287927
10 99.75226736
54
11 90.78083248
 Other Data Analysis: Seatbelt Wearing

100
Zone of U1 vs. DE

deformation extent 80
NoInjury
U2 vs. DE
Slight
Status A B U3 vs. DE

Probability (%)
60 Transition point A
Severe
Unbelted 2 4 U4 vs. DE
40 Transition point B Fatal
Belted 3 7
20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Deformation extent

100 B4 vs. DE
Fatal
B1 vs. DE
80 NoInjury
B2 vs. DE
Probability (%)

60 Transition point A Slight

B3 vs. DE
Severe
40 Transition point B

20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Technical Reports

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 56

NATIONAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES

UNECE • UNR 66 – Strength of superstructure for large

passenger vehicles
International • UNR 80 – Seat anchorage for large passenger
vehicles
Regulations

Upgrading of • Upgrade guardrails from TL 2 to TL 3-TL 6

Barrier System

SHE Code of • Safety Health & Environment Code of Practice for

Commercial Vehicles
Practice

Rear Seatbelt • Policy enforced on 1st January 2009

Policy

57
Other Countermeasures and Actions from
Recommendations
Countermeasures Year Action
1 Relocation of Jelapang Toll Plaza 2007 PLUS
2 Improvement of Road Signage involving Emergency 2007 PLUS
Escape Ramp at Jelapang Toll Plaza
3 Removal of Jati trees along North-South Expressway 2008 PLUS
(PLUS)
4 Development and Implementation of Ambulance Safety 2010 MOH
Policy
5 Upgrading of Barrier System along Spg Pulai-Cameron 2012 PWD
Highlands Road
6 Upgrading of Barrier System along Genting Highlands 2014 GENM
Road
7 Improvement of Speed Management System along 2014 GENM
Genting Highlands Road
8 Improvement of Road Signage involving Emergency 2014 GENM
Escape Ramp at Jelapang Toll Plaza
9 Banning of Double Deck Bus along Hilly Roads 2014 LPTC
10 Establishment of Malaysia Transport Safety Board 2014 MOT 58
THANK YOU
ansyukri@miros.gov.my
cru@miros.gov.my

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH 59